Process for continuously processing a web or strip material in a press

ABSTRACT

A process for continuously pressing a web or strip material in a press in which there is an upper and lower die unit assembly with each unit including a series of aligned dies assigned for differently or progressively pressing said material. After a pressing operation for prodicing a desired product, the die unit assembly can be removed from said press with a cut-off portion of the strip remaining in the dies and stowed in a storage. Thereafter, when said press is operated for another pressing operation for producing said desired product, the die unit assembly is taken out of said storage reset in the press, and the strip portion left in the dies is welded or brazed to the web or strip portion being fed to the press.

United States Patent [lll 3,921,887

Maehara et al. l l Nov. 25, 1975 [S4] PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY 3.745646 7/l973 Kristiansson .l 72/446 PROCESSING A WEB OR STRIP MATERIAL 384ll4l Ill/i974 Rachwal v v 73/446 [N A PRESS [75] lnventors: Toshinori Maehara, Tokyo; primary g c w Lanham Yoshinob" Kimura; Hirotoku Assistant E.rarrrincrGene P. Crosby Takeuchiv both of y i M3530 Attorney Agent, or FirmHolman & Stern Takegami, Chita-Gun. all of Japan [73] Assignees: Aida Engineering Kabushiki Kaisha;

Zaidan Ho'in Kikai Shinko Kyokai, Tokyo, bot h of Japan [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: 1974 A process for continuously pressing a web or strip ma- [Zll Appl NO1 496.217 terial in a press in which there is an upper and lower die unit assembly with each unit including a series of aligned dies assigned (or differently or progressively [3O] Fm'eign Applicamm Priority Data pressing said material. After a pressing operation for Aug. I8, 1973 Japan 48-92087 prodicing a desired product. the die unit assembly can be removed from said press with a cut-off portion of [52] US. Cl. i. 228/155; 29/568; 72/446; the strip remaining in the dies and stowed in a storage. 83/549; 83/563; 72/377; 228/l73 Thereafter, when said press is operated for another [5 l I int. Cl .4 BZlj 13/08 pressing operation for producing said desired product, Field of Search i. 72/446. 447. 448, 377. the die unit assembly is taken out of said storage reset 72/324: 29/568, 480', 83/563. 549 in the press, and the strip portion left in the dies is welded or brazed to the web or strip portion being fed [56] References Cited to the press UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3.234.648 2/1966 Knowles 29/568 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Med U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 SheetlofZ 3,921,887

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,921,887

PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING A WEB OR STRIP MATERIAL IN A PRESS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material and more particularly, to a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material in which a web or strip material is continuously pressed by a die assembly comprising upper and lower die units each unit having a series of upper and lower cooperating dies for effecting successive pressing steps as the material is intermittently fed in a cycle of pressing operation to produce products in succession.

There have been proposed a number of successive pressing processes for a web or strip material for producing products in succession by the use of presses and in one of the prior art processes, when a web or strip material is successively processed as the material is being fed, it required a great deal of skill in smoothly feeding the material through successive process stages from the initial stage to the last stage and especially, when the material is supplied from a hoop, it was difficult to automatically and positively feed the material into the die device. And when the material was initially fed in the press, the material was subjected to a biassing load. And when the material was to be processed to the trailing end of the material, the dies would be adversely affected unless such an end was exactly positioned in the boundary between adjacent processing stages.

Some dies were designed not to provide scraps on the discharge side of a press and when the extreme ends of a material were to be treated in such dies, the semi-manufactured product could not be automatically moved on both the feed side and discharge side of the press and in consequence, the material had to be manually fed in increment and processed through successive processing stages and the pulling out of the manufactured product also had to be manually effected. However, such manual procedure was a time consuming procedure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material which can effectively eliminate the disadvantages inherent in the prior art continuous pressing processes referred to above.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material which is especially advantageous when a small number of identical products are produced by a single set of upper and lower die assembly and the frequency of die exchange is great in a cycle of pressing operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material which requires only a brief time in preparing for the pressing operation in the production of each type of product does not require any skilled hand and can eliminate hazard which may otherwise occur when the material is manually fed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a continuous pressing process for a web or strip material which can eliminate the application of a biassing load on the slide when the material is precessed both at the leading and trailing ends to thereby eliminate damage on the dies which may be otherwise inevitable.

According to the present invention, there is provided a process for continuously pressing a web or strip material in a press in which an upper and a lower die unit assembly each unit including a series of aligned dies arranged in a line is employed for successively processing the material while the material is being fed in increment through successive pressing steps from one side of the press toward the other side of the press where the pressed product is discharged, characterized by that after the product which had been processed in the final pressing step has been discharged from said other side of the press leaving a semimanufactured portion of the material held between the upper and lower die units of the die assembly, the semimanufactured material portion is sheared off the remaining portion of the material in a position at a distance from the feed side of the die unit assembly with a section of the material connected to the semimanufactured portion projecting from the die unit assembly, the unit assembly having the sheared semimanufactured material portion held therein is removed from the body of said press and carried to a die storage by a die exchanger to be stowed therein, thereafter, when the die unit assembly is to be reused, the die unit assembly is taken out of the storage and carried to the press body by said die exchanger to be reset therein, the leading end of a succeeding material being fed through said press is butt-jointed to the adjacent end of said projecting material portion connected to the semimanufactured material portion held in said reset die unit assembly by welding or brazing and thereafter, the press is operated for a continuous pressing operation.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the invention for illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the same in any way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings show one example of press in which the process of the invention is carried out and in which;

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of said press;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of said press a die exchanger and a die storage; and

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of one die assembly comprising upper and lower dies in pairs having a semimanufactured product held therebetween.

The present invention will be now described referring to the accompanying drawings. In the figures of the drawings, character reference 8 denotes a bolster, character reference S denotes a slide movable toward and away from the bolster B, reference numeral 1 denotes an upper die unit comprising a plurality of aligned upper dies and reference numeral 2 denotes a lower die unit comprising a plurality of aligned lower dies which cooperate with the mating upper dies of the upper die unit 1, respectively, for performing different process steps on a material. Character reference D denotes a die assembly including the upper and lower die units 1 and 2. As conventionally known in the art, the upper and lower die units I and 2 include a series of separate upper dies 0, b, c and d and a series of separate lower dies a, b, c and d, respectively, which are arranged in a line in their associated die unit and which cooperate with each other for performing different processing steps on a material being fed in timed relationship with the intermediate feed of the material and with the advancing stroke of the slide in a cycle of processing operation in the press.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a material in the form of a web or strip to be processed in the press and the material is adapted to be intermittently fed in increment to and through the processing zone defined by the bolster B and slide S by feed means 4 conventionally disposed along the path of the material 3 in front of the processing Zone and conventionally including a leveller, pinch rolls, a loop controller and feed rolls.

Disposed between the feed means 4 and upper and lower die units 1 and 2 adjacent to and spaced from the path of the material 3 are material shearing means 5 and material jointing means 6. The shearing means 5 and jointing means 6 are adapted to be operated alternately in the same zone along the path of the material 3. For the purpose, the searing means 5 is movable between the solid line position and phantasm line position (FIG. 2) in the direction of the path of the material 3 being fed while the jointing means 6 is movable between the solid line position and phantasm line position in a direction transverse of the path of the material 3 (FIG. 2). Thus, when it is desired to shear the material 3, the jointing means 6 is first moved to the solid line position laterally of the path of the material and the shearing means 5 is then moved to the phantasm line position. Thereafter, the shearing blades of the shearing means 5 are actuated to shear the material. On the other hand, when it is desired to perform a material jointing operation, the shearing means 5 is first moved to the solid line position and the jointing means 6 is then moved to the phantasm line position. Thereafter, the jointing means 6 is actuated for performing a material jointing operation. The jointing means may be any conventional butt-joint welding device or brazing device. Character reference 7 denotes a die exchanger which is disposed on one side of the path of the material 3 adjacent to the bolster B and adapted to move between the die assembly receiving position and die assembly discharge position in which the die exchanger 7 discharges a particular die assembly into a conventional die storage 8 positioned at a distance from one side of the bolster B. The storage 8 is adapted to receive and hold a plurality of different types of die assemblies which are adapted to be employed for different patterns of pressing on the material 3 and the die exchanger 7 is adapted to pull a selected die assembly out of the plurality of die assemblies within the storage 8 and feed the selected die assembly to the pressing zone.

In operation, a selected die assembly is positioned in the processing zone with the lower die unit 2 of the assembly secured to the bolster B by means of clamps 9 and the upper die unit 1 of the same assembly is secured by means of similar clamps to the slide S which is disposed above the bolster B. Thereafter, the material 3 is intermittently fed into the press by the feed means 4 with the slide S maintained in its retracted position with respect to the bolster B until a section of the material 3 extending rearwardly of the leading end of the material (the section will be referred as first section hereinafter) is disposed between the first pair of upper and lower dies a and a whereupon the feeding of the material is stopped and the slide S is moved in its advancing stroke toward the bolster B whereby the first pair of dies a and 0' effect a first step of pressing on the first section in a cycle of pressing operation. After the first step pressing, the slide S is retracted from the bolster B and the feeding of the material 3 is then resumed to advance the material until the first section thereof which has been processed by the first pair of dies a and a is positioned between the second pair of dies b and b and a section of the material following the first section (the following section will be called as second section hereinafter) is positioned between the first pair of dies 0 and a, respectively, whereupon the feeding of the material is stopped. Thereafter, the slide S is advanced to cause the second and first pairs of dies b and b and a and a to effect second and first steps of pressing on the material sections in the cycle of operation. Thereafter, the slide S is retracted from the bolster B and the feeding of the material is resumed until the first section is positioned between the third pair of dies 0 and c, the second section is positioned between the second pair of dies b and b and a section following the second section (the section will be referred to as third section hereinafter) is positioned between the first pair of dies a and a, respectively, whereupon the feeding of the material is stopped. Thereafter, the slide S is advanced to cause the third, second and first pairs of dies c and c, b and b' and a and a to effect third, second and first steps of pressing on the sections in the cycle of operation, respectively. Thereafter, the slide S is retracted from the bolster B and the feeding of the material is resumed to advance the material until the first section, second section, third section and a section following the third section (the section will be referred to as fourth section" hereinafter) are positioned between the fourth pair of dies d and d, third pair of dies c and c, second pair of dies b and b and first pair of dies a and a, respectively. Thereafter, the slide S is advanced to cause the fourth, third, second and first pairs of dies d and d, c and c b and b and a and a to effect the fourth, third, second and first steps of pressing on the sections in the cycle of operation. The first section is simultaneously cut from the remaining portion of the material or more particularly. from the second section of the material while the first section is subjected to the fourth step of pressing in the operation cycle. By repeating the pressing operation cycle in the manner mentioned hereinafter, final or desired products can be in succession produced and the products are discharged in the arrow direction A in FIG. 2. When a desired number of products have been obtained, the operation in the press is terminated. When the last one of the desired number of products has been discharged from the processing zone, a semimanufactured portion 3a comprising differently processed first, second, third and fourth sections remains in the die assembly with the rest of the material 3 connected to the fourth material section. Thus, the shearing means 5 is moved toward the die assembly to the phantasm line position in H0. 2 and the shearing means is actuated to cause its shearing blades to shear the material at the shearing line C in FIG. 2 to thereby leave a portion 3b of the material projecting out of the inner edge of the die assembly. The die assembly having the differently processed sections and the following section including the projecting portion 3b held therein is generally shown by character reference D in FIGS. and 3.

After the shearing operation, the die assembly is released from the bolster B and slide S by unclamping the upper and lower die units 1 and 2 from the slide S and bolster B, respectively.

The die assembly D having the material portions and 3b held therein is then removed from the processing zone by a conventional die exchanger 7 which is driven by any suitable drive means (not shown) and carries the die assembly to the die storage 8 where the die assembly D is stowed together with other similar die assemblies which are for performing different types of pressing operation and having similar material portions projecting therefrom.

When it is desired to produce a particular type of products corresponding to that to be produced by one of the various types of die assemblies D stowed in the storage 8, the die assembly D suitable for the desired product is selected. The selected die assembly D is picked up and carried by the die exchanger 7 to the pressing zone where the upper and lower die units 1 and 2 of the die assembly D are clamped to the slide S and bolster B, respectively.

As mentioned hereinabove, since the portion 3b connected to the semimanufactured portion 3a projects out of the die assembly D when the die assembly D is positioned in the pressing zone, the jointing means 6 which is now disposed out of the jointing position as shown by the solid line is moved to the phantasm line position to joint the rear or inner end of the projecting material portion 3b to the leading end of the material 3 which was left adjacent to the pressing zone in the previous shearing operation, After the jointing operation, the press is actuated to resume the above-mentioned procedure to produce the selected type of products in succession.

As mentioned hereinabove, according to the present invention, various types of die assemblies D having semimanufactured material portions 3a and projecting portions 3b held therein are stowed in the storage 8 and one particular type die assembly is selected from the stowed die assemblies when it is desired to produce the product to be pressed by the particular selected die assembly. The selected die assembly D is positioned in the pressing zone with the upper die unit 1 and lower die unit 2 of the die assembly are clamped to the slide S and bolster B, respectively. Thereafter, the projecting portion 312 is jointed to the leading end of the succeeding material portion whereupon the pressing operation for producing the selected type of product is ready for starting. Thus, the preparatory procedure can be effected in a brief of time without requiring any highly skilled worker as necessary in the conventional corresponding presses. In addition, the possibility of hazard as feasible in the manual feeding of the material in the conventional presses can be effectively prevented. And since the portion of the material which is positioned in the pressing zone is entirely pinched between the upper and lower die units as the material section is being processed, when the material is initially processed being held in the die assembly and the trailing end of the material is processed, the material will not be subjected to any biassing load to thereby eliminate the possiblity of damage of the dies which will be otherwise inevitable. The process of the invention is especially advantageously employed when a small number of identical products are produced in one cycle of pressing operation and the frequency of die exchange is great.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that the same is for illustration purpose only and not to be taken as a definition of the invention, reference being had for the purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A process for continuously processing a web or strip mate rial in a press in which an upper and lower die unit assembly with each unit having a series of aligned dies arranged in a line is employed for successively processing the material while the material is being fed in increment through successive pressing steps from one side of the press toward the other side of the press where the pressed product is discharged, characterized by that after the product which had been processed in the final pressing step has been discharged from said other side of the press le aving a semimanufactured por tion of the material held between the upper and lower die units of the die assembly, the semimanufactured material portion is sheared off the remaining portion of the material in a position at a distance from the feed side of the die unit assembly with a section of the material connected to the semimanufactured material portion projecting from the die unit assembly, the die unit assembly having the sheared semimanufactured portion held therein is removed from the body of said press and carried to a die storage by a die exchanger to be stowed therein, thereafter, when the die unit assembly is to be reused, the die unit assembly is taken out of the storage and carried to the press body by said die exchanger to be reset therein, the leading end of a succeeding material being fed through said press is buttjointed to the adjacent end of said projecting material portion connected to the semimanufactured material portion held in said reset die unit assembly by welding or brazing and thereafter, the press is operated for a continuous pressing operation.

2. The process as set forth in claim 1, in which a plurality of upper and lower die unit assemblies designed for producing different products are stowed in said storage, a selected upper and lower die unit assembly is taken out of and carried from the storage depending upon the type of product to be obtained to said press body to be reset therein, said portion of the material projecting from the die unit assembly is jointed to the leading end of a succeeding material being fed through said press and a continuous pressing operation is per- 

1. A process for continuously processing a web or strip material in a press in which an upper and lower die unit assembly with each unit having a series of aligned dies arranged in a line is employed for successively processing the material while the material is being fed in increment through successive pressing steps from one side of the press toward the other side of the press where the pressed product is discharged, characterized by that after the product which had been processed in the final pressing step has been discharged from said other side of the press leaving a semimanufactured portion of the material held between the upper and lower die units of the die assembly, the semimanufactured material portion is sheared off the remaining portion of the material in a position at a distance from the feed side of the die unit assembly with a section of the material connected to the semimanufactured material portion projecting from the die unit assembly, the die unit assembly having the sheared semimanufactured portion held therein is removed from the body of said press and carried to a die storage by a die exchanger to be stowed therein, thereafter, when the die unit assembly is to be reused, the die unit assembly is taken out of the storage and carried to the press body by said die exchanger to be reset therein, the leading end of a succeeding material being fed through said press is butt-jointed to the adjacent end of said projecting material portion connected to the semimanufactured material portion held in said reset die unit assembly by welding or brazing and thereafter, the press is operated for a continuous pressing operation.
 2. The process as set forth in claim 1, in which a plurality of upper and lower die unit assemblies designed for producing different products are stowed in said storage, a selected upper and lower die unit assembly is taken out of and carried from the storage depending upon the type of product to be obtained to said press body to be reset therein, said portion of the material projecting from the die unit assembly is jointed to the leading end of a succeeding material being fed through said press and a continuous pressing operation is performed. 